Exchange FAQs
Defragment an Exchange Database on a Network Drive
Can I defragment an Exchange database on a network drive if I don't have enough space locally?
Yes, you can use the /t switch with the Eseutil utility to specify a local or remote location as the temporary folder to be used for the database defragmentation. Using a remote location might slow down the defragmentation process, however. In the following sample command, I specify the Z drive, which maps to a network path (or you can use a Universal Naming-Convention—UNC—path), and a temporary filename for the database. (The command wraps here because of space limitations; you should type it on one line.)
eseutil /d "c:\program files \exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb" /tz:\tempdfrg.edb
When you execute this command, you'll see on-screen messages similar to those that Figure 1 shows.
—John Savill
Encrypting an Exchange Database While the Database Is in Use
Are there any products that can encrypt an Exchange database while the database is in use?
Yes. In fact, one such product is included in Windows 2000 and later: Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) lets you encrypt folders or volumes, including folders or volumes that contain Exchange data. Although I can't find an official statement from Microsoft that Exchange supports EFS, Microsoft SQL Server supports EFS, and in my experience it seems to work fine with Exchange. However, be aware that using EFS encryption and decryption can incur a significant performance penalty. A variety of third-party products provide disk-, volume-, or folder-level encryption in hardware or software, although I don't know of any that have been tested with Exchange.
Before deploying EFS or a third-party product, you should examine why you want to encrypt Exchange databases. If you're trying to protect individual mail items, you can probably get adequate protection from a combination of Secure MIME (S/MIME) encryption and the Windows Rights Management Service (RMS) toolset (depending on the threat model you face). If you want to protect messages in transit, the Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption functionality built into Exchange's SMTP server will be useful. If your goal is to protect your server from someone who has physical access to the server, you should make sure that your existing physical-security measures are adequate before employing encryption. Don't forget to provide protection for your backup media, too; ideally, you should be using a combination of physical security and encryption to make sure that tapes are protected.
—Paul Robichaux
6 Email-Archiving Products Compared
Your Exchange Information Store (IS) is bursting at the seams—you'd like to clear some space, but your organization is legally bound to retain all email communications. Third-party email-archiving products relieve your Exchange server of the burden of storing old messages and, more important, let you locate and retrieve messages and attachments on demand. In the May issue of Windows IT Pro, Jason Sherry compares six archiving products for Exchange and gives his recommendations. Check out the product review "Email Archiving for Compliance," InstantDoc ID 49712.
Making the Switch to Windows Mobile
Since 2000, I've been toting a Palm-powered smart phone. This week, I made the switch to Windows Mobile, and it's all because of Exchange.
The release to manufacturing (RTM) of the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) made me think wistfully of DirectPush and how nice it would be to have a device that supported it. I already had a decent mail solution on my Palm Treo thanks to a combination of Snapper Software's SnapperMail and DataViz's RoadSync (an Exchange ActiveSync—EAS— client that runs on several platforms, including PalmOS), but the wireless calendar and contact sync that Direct-Push provides were looking better and better. I decided that I'd switch if I could find a Messaging and Security Feature Pack–capable device, which took a long time to come to market.
However, a funny thing happened at Exchange Connections in early April: I saw tons of people using HTC Wizard–based devices such as the TMobile MDA, the Qtek 9100, and the Cingular 8125. The HTC Wizard platform has a great screen, built-in Bluetooth and WiFi, and a nicely sized slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Several people told me about an unofficial ROM upgrade that added Messaging and Security Feature Pack functionality to the various flavors of HTC Wizard. This ROM image isn't supported, and installing it may void your warranty, give you hives, or prompt a visit from Microsoft's legal department; having said that, it seemed to work well on the devices I saw as an interim measure until the carriers release their Messaging and Security Feature Pack–certified versions.
Given that my existing Treo won't work when I'm in Europe and that I needed some kind of phone, I decided to take the plunge. I bought a TMobile MDA and installed the Messaging and Security Feature Pack ROM. It has worked flawlessly so far, and the DirectPush experience was excellent. I didn't have to configure anything on my Exchange servers, and setting up the phone was as simple as entering my email server information and waiting for the initial sync.
Not to say that life on Windows Mobile has been perfect so far, but most of my complaints arise from differences in implementation between Palm OS (which I know like the back of my hand) and Windows Mobile. I do wish the built-in messaging application had in-message controls for going to the next and previous messages, and there are a few PalmOS programs (e.g., SilverWare's Travel-Tracker) that don't seem to have Windows Mobile equivalents. Probably my biggest complaint is that, as with Outlook, you can have only one EAS account per profile (in this case, per device). Because I have three Exchange mailboxes, all of which I use heavily, it would be nice to be able to wirelessly sync all three of them; however, IMAP is an acceptable substitute for two of them.
I'll be writing more about the Exchange mobility experience in the future. As more and more devices get official Messaging and Security Feature Pack support (such as the Palm Treo 700w; see http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo700wupdater/verizon.html), these devices will become increasingly important players in the mobile-email space.
—Paul Robichaux
Webcasts on Demand
Did you know that you have free access to some of the best Web seminars around? Windows IT Pro Events Central has a continuous supply of upcoming live events as well as archived events that are available on demand. For example, "Avoiding Email Armageddon," with Paul Robichaux and MessageOne's Bryan J. Rollins, teaches you what to do to head off a messaging-server outage, including how to keep operations going while you execute recovery from your backup system. The seminar, sponsored by Iron Mountain, also discusses Iron Mountain's email-continuity and recovery services.
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GET MORE ONLINE Follow these links to access the resources mentioned in this month's Exchange Ideas. Exchange FAQs Encrypting an Exchange Database While the Database Is in Use 6 Email-Archiving Products Compared Making the Switch to Windows Mobile Webcasts on Demand |
